'You're Not Alone' documentary screening draws attention to importance of sleep for teens

Wendy Magas, with N.E.W. Mental Health Connection, speaks during a panel discussion following a screening of 'You're Not Alone,' a documentary about youth mental health Wednesday in Appleton.(Photo: Danny Damiani/USA TODAY NETWORK-)

APPLETON - If a teen is dozing off during his or her first class of the day, it doesn't necessarily mean they're lazy.

Teen brains are biologically programmed to sleep later and longer. But because of early school start times and busy schedules that often come with high school, they're not getting the sleep they need.

"Sleep is hugely, hugely important for mental health and very, very important for teens," said Wendy Magas, project coordinator of Healthy Teen Minds, an initiative of the N.E.W. Mental Health Connection based in the Fox Valley.

"If there was one single thing we could do that would have the biggest impact on an entire population — specifically improving the mental health of our kids — it would be improving their sleep."

Magas was one of four panelists who spoke Wednesday after a screening of the youth mental health documentary "You're Not Alone," produced by USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin and Milwaukee PBS.

The documentary, a product of the network's Kids in Crisis series, follows four Wisconsin teens who have overcome a variety of mental health challenges in hopes of letting others know that, despite whatever they've endured, they are not alone and healing is possible.

More than 100 parents, educators and concerned community members attended the screening at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center and stayed for the panel discussion that followed, where they asked questions about what they can do to proactively improve youth mental health.

Four panelists, from left Wendy Magas of N.E.W. Mental Health Connection, Barb Bigalke of Center for Suicide Awareness, Cindy Czarnik-Neimeyer of Catalpa Health and the Appleton Area School District and Maryann Lazarski of Milwaukee PBS, lead a panel discussion after a screening of the documentary "You're Not Alone" Wednesday in Appleton.(Photo: Danny Damiani/USA TODAY NETWORK-)

Magas emphasized the importance of making sure teens are getting enough sleep. Because of changes in the brain as teens move from puberty to adolescence, teens need more sleep than adults and they may need to sleep later.

Still, most teens aren't getting enough sleep, Magas said, citing a 2016 study published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that showed more than two-thirds of high school students aren't getting enough sleep on school nights.

And there are major health consequences that follow. A 2016 study published by the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that getting less than the recommended eight to 10 hours of sleep per night as a teenager is associated with increased risk for self-harm, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts.

Magas said data from the 2015-16 youth Risk Behavioral Studies, which surveyed more than 9,000 students across Calumet, Outagamie and Winnebago counties, showed that teenagers who got five or fewer hours of sleep had the highest rate of depression, while those who got eight or more hours were least likely to be depressed.

Depression is not the only health risk associated for teens not getting enough rest.

"Inadequate sleep impacts everything — it affects their academic performance, causes more sports injuries, more fatal car crashes," she said. "Mental health aside, there are so many other negative health consequences."

How do we fix that?

Though Magas said schools should consider later start times as a systemic change, she also noted parents should try to model healthy sleep habits for their kids.

"I know that we're always connected 24/7 — we're always checking our work email, we're sitting in bed on our laptops and phones," Magas said. "But if we can just model good sleep hygiene where your bedroom is a sanctuary for sleep, it's quiet and without distractions ... that's going to be so good for their health."

Wendy Magas, with NEW Mental Health Connection, Barb Bigalke, with the Center for Suicide Awareness, Cindy Czarnik-Neimeyer, with Catalpa Health and the Appleton Area School District, and Maryann Lazarski, with Milwaukee PBS, lead a panel discussion after a screening of 'You're Not Alone,' a documentary about youth mental health Wednesday, May 29, 2019 in Appleton, Wis.
Danny Damiani/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Danny Damiani/USA TODAY NETWORK-

An audience member asks a question during the panel discussing following a screening of 'You're Not Alone,' a documentary about youth mental health Wednesday, May 29, 2019 at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in Appleton, Wis.
Danny Damiani/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Danny Damiani/USA TODAY NETWORK-

Those attending a screening of 'You're Not Alone,' a documentary about youth mental health link hands and arms to recite "We bind ourselves together by taking hold of each other’s hands so firmly and forming a circle so strong that if a tree should fall upon it, it could not shake or break it” at the end of a panel discussion Wednesday, May 29, 2019 at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in Appleton, Wis.
Danny Damiani/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Danny Damiani/USA TODAY NETWORK-